Discussion of the archaeological ethics surrounding the collecting of antiquities and archaeological material.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Breaking Story on Gianfranco Becchina

The June 2011 number of the Art Newspaper is now available. It contains a significant piece ("The masterpiece sold for $1,500 and a suckling pig") by Italian investigative journalist Fabio Isman. The article discusses the detail in the Becchina archive especially the documentary evidence. It will make uncomfortable reading not least for one UK museum. One of the collectors discussed in detail by Isman is George Ortiz whose collection was displayed at London's Royal Academy.

North American museums also get some attention, not least the Toledo Museum of Art. The Louvre receives its section entitled "uncaring about provenance". Other New York galleries feature in the discussion as well as the role of Eli Borowski.

The Becchina Archive is known to have been used to identify material in a number of North American collections. Isman's report is likely to initiate another round of claims.

1 comment:

Ulf Jäger and Sascha Kansteiner,Ancient Metalworks from the Black Sea to China in the Borowski Collection: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/books/detail/-/art/Ulf-J%E4ger-Sascha-Kansteiner-Ancient-Metalworks-from-the-Black-Sea-to-China-in-the-Borowski-Collection/buchnum/147814983

I just ordered the book. It is tragic that the authors seem not to have understood anything.

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About Me

David Gill is Professor of Archaeological Heritage and Director of Heritage Futures at the University of Suffolk. He was a Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome and a Sir James Knott Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was subsequently part of the Department of Antiquities at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology, Swansea University. He holds the Archaeological Institute of America's Outstanding Public Service Award (2012).